Surface structuring of Kapton polyimide with femtosecond and picosecond IR laser pulses

摘要： Pulsed laser ablation is one of the most efficient and clean methods for high-precision processing and modification of polymers and biomaterials. Polymer ablation has been extensively investigated with ultraviolet lasers while little attention has been given to the infrared (IR) region, which becomes particularly interesting with the recent advances in ultrashort laser technologies. Here, we report the results of a comparative study on 1030-nm ultrashort laser structuring of Kapton polyimide, a polymer important in a variety of applications, with direct comparison of 247-fs and 7-ps laser pulses. The laser-induced damage thresholds for both pulse durations have been determined and the femtosecond laser threshold has been found to be considerably lower than that for picosecond pulses (by a factor of ～ 3.5). Both femtosecond and picosecond laser–produced craters have been thoroughly investigated as a function of pulse energy and focusing conditions. It has been demonstrated that femtosecond laser pulses enable accurate polyimide structuring while picosecond irradiation regimes result in a number of undesired effects such as re-deposition of the ablation debris, surface swelling, and the formation of high rims around the ablation craters. The mechanisms of polyimide ablation with femtosecond and picosecond IR laser pulses are discussed.